Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Bells Of Change: Kathak Dance, Women And Modernity In India, Pallabi Chakravorty

Dance Faculty Works

The first critical study of Kathak dance within the discourses of the modern and the global, tracing the arc of two centuries of Kathak: the colonial nautch dance, classical Kathak under nationalism and postcolonialism and 'innovation' and 'new directions' under transnationalism and globalization. It blends various approaches from anthropology, ethnomusicology, and performance, media and gender studies to map the journey of Kathak from baijis and tawaifs to the global stage. The book uses dance as a lens to explore the interaction between the actors and forces of cultural change from power and patronage to television and film.

Unruly Difference: The Politics Of Stigma And The Space Of The Sacred, Ellen Kaplan

Theatre: Faculty Publications

This essay looks at three contemporary Jewish American playwrights: Tony Kushner, Martin Sherman and Deb Margolin, whose plays ask fundamental questions about Jewish identity in its political, cultural and spiritual dimensions. Breaking from the concerns of their theatrical predecessors, most of whom ignored or disguised their Jewish roots, these playwrights draw on profoundly Jewish concepts to reconfigure narratives of redemption, obligation, ethical community, and Messianic utopianism. Their plays are characterized by a sensibility of “unruly difference.” Attracted by the politics of marginality; these writers re-imagine otherness in plays that celebrate a different understanding of faith and conjure the sublime. By …

Clara Schumann: A One-Woman Musical Dynamo, Jean Cabral

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

Direction Of The Musical: The Fantasticks, Robert Todd Meek

Graduate Student Projects

This project entailed the selection, background research and documentation, musical analysis, casting, direction, vocal coaching, and post-production analysis of Ridgefield High School's production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's The Fantasticks. Documentation includes research and analysis of the play, its music, and an evaluation of the musical as a production vehicle for the Department of Theatre Arts at Central Washinton University. The analysis also includes a discussion as to the non-traditional directorial vision of this production.

Energy And Symmetry In Language And Yoga, Sally Hess, Donna Jo Napoli

Linguistics Faculty Works

The structures of syllables and of yoga poses are compared. Syllables are tripartite, with sound segments rising in sonority (acoustic energy) to a peak, then falling. Likewise, asanas are tripartite, with symmetrical movements flanking the sustaining, vital energy peak. In both entities, then, symmetric structure flanks energy peaks. This organization is not a physical necessity, but a cognitive preference.

The Fight Master, Fall/Winter 2008, Vol. 31 Issue 2, The Society Of American Fight Directors

Fight Master Magazine

No abstract provided.

To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday Program [2008], University Of Southern Maine Department Of Theatre

Programs 2007-2008 Season

Written by Michael Brady

Directed by Kristen Peters

This production was entered in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) 40.

Contemporary African American Women Playwrights: A Casebook Edited By Philip C. Kolin (Review), Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

Buckner provides a review of Kolin's "Contemporary African American Women Playwrights."

Theatre History At The University Of North Dakota, Loren Liepold

UND Departmental Histories

This departmental history was written on the occasion of the UND Quasquicentennial in 2008.

Sati In Philadelphia: The Widow(S) Of Malabar, Jeffrey H. Richards

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Directing Earth, Fire, And Water With A 5th Grade Class, Lucy Bryson

Theses and Dissertations

The value of arts education in our schools is on the rise. Many studies have been conducted in the recent past supporting this rise. The College Board reports that students since 1999 exposed and involved with arts education score higher on the SAT. (Americans for the Arts) As a result theatre education is on the rise. Traditionally drama programs have only been established in secondary schools; however, middle and elementary schools are beginning to add drama programs to their curriculum. These programs vary from school to school. Some are very performance based using class time to choose a play, audition, …

Theodore's Pants, Ashley Christopher

The Laureate

No abstract provided.

Superfan, Erin Beal

The Laureate

No abstract provided.

Rev. Of "The Wallenstein Trilogy," Directed By Peter Stein And Starring Klaus Maria Brandauer., William Grange

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

The refurbished main fermentation hall and cold storage warehouse of the defunct Kindl brewery Berlin’s working-class borough of Neukölln is an improbable venue for a production of a German classic that attracted film and television celebrities, major government officials, sports stars, and serious theatre-goers from all over the country.

Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm: The Rise Of The Jazz Musical, Amy C. Baumgartner

Theses and Dissertations

The shift in the American economic viewpoint before and after World War I left an indelible mark on the arts, allowing the only indigenous music to arise, jazz. In the transitory period following the war, it was George Gershwin who paved the way for jazz to become America's only indigenous music. Yet, the current definition of jazz is so racially polarized that it has lost focus on the music. This work explores George Gershwin's role in creating a jazz culture in a xenophobic country and argues for an inclusive definition of jazz, one based on the music itself.

Flow-Acting: Modern Sports Science And The Preparation Of Actors, Barrett Slade Billew

Theses and Dissertations

Theatre artists and acting teachers throughout history have sought to find and create presence. By combining modern sports science with an understanding of systems of actor training I have suggested an approach that makes presence a trainable skill. My coach Dr. Scott Sonnon, developer of the Circular Strength Training System, has refined modern sports science to emphasize the development and maintenance of flow-state. This state allows the athlete to respond openly and freely within a constantly changing situation.By combining my life long study of acting with my eight years of work with Coach Sonnon I am developing a system to …

Choreographing Cabaret: A Guide To Storytelling Through Dance And Movement, Katie Claire Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

American Musical Theatre is one of the unique American methods of storytelling that exists in performance. In a musical, text, song, movement, and dance tell a story. In Music Theatre, when a character can no longer express what they desire in words, they sing. If singing cannot satisfy the need, the element of dance comes into play. Richard Kislan states, "What sets dance apart is the universality in movement and gesture which is not bound like language to nationality or culture. Dance transcends geography in a way that language cannot. Dance humanizes expression in a way that music cannot."(237) In …

Creating A Realistic Set Design For Doubt: A Parable, Philip Avery Hayes

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a narrative describing the set design for the Richmond premiere of Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley. The project was a creation of a set to be used by the Barksdale Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. The performance was held in February 15, 2008 through March 22, 2008 at the Barksdale Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. The production was a cooperation between the Virginia Commonwealth University Theatre Department and the Barksdale Theatre Inc.

Open Your Eyes...On Impressing The Important Things., Heidi Dawn Ortega

Theses and Dissertations

Open Your Eyes… On Impressing the Important Things is the documentation of my first semester as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. The purpose of this thesis is to document that journey to gain greater understanding of myself and my teaching. I embrace teaching as an artist. It is an opportunity to inspire and empower. As a teacher, I am attentive to the fact that learning is a complex process. It is individual, content and context specific. I believe that the goal of teaching is to empower students to take responsibility for their learning. Teaching is an art form that can be …

"Attention Must Be Paid," Cried The Balladeer: The Concept Musical Defined, Christine Margaret Young

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The concept musical, a fourth category of American musical theatre, has been accepted as a legitimate category but never fully defined. This study examined the attributes making up the category (theme, structure, character, and song), identified the hallmarks of the category, and provided a concise definition. Two concept musicals, Company and A Chorus Line were analyzed.

[Introduction To] Barcelona Plays: A Collection Of New Works By Catalan Playwrights, Sharon G. Feldman, Marion Peter Holt

Bookshelf

Barcelona’s theater has experienced a remarkable renaissance in the years since the end of the Franco dictatorship. Soon the Catalan language, suppressed for more than three decades, became a vehicle of expression for new playwrights who challenged performance groups. This collection represents outstanding Catalan playwrights from three generations.

The Disabled Family Dynamic In Drama: The Glass Menagerie, A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg And Time For Ben, Terah Herman

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Early disability research in the social sciences focused on the individual, or the person with the disability. Only recently has disability research accepted that every family member is affected. The disabled does not suffer the disability alone; the entire family— as well as friends and relatives—suffer ramifications. Parental roles are altered, and grief, anger and guilt often blur the parameters of acceptable parental care. By using disabled family dynamic research in dialog with The Glass Menagerie, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, and Time for Ben, I argue that the disabled family dynamic is present, …

Revising Cio-Cio-San, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Some of the mast extensive and significant textual changes in all of Puccini's operas appear in the published revisions of Madama Butterfly. Many of these verbal modifications, together with cuts and additions to the score, influence the dramatic depiction of the protagonists. Changes to Pinkerton's character soften an insensitive and even offensive figure who, after all, needs to be convincing as the object of Butterfly's love. For Cio-Cio-San, three rounds of revision mean a gradual loss of complexity on any fronts, bringing an exotic, mercurial heroine closer to operatic convention. The Butterfly that we know today has a more …

Enmasking Beckett: The Use Of The Commedia Dell'arte In Waiting For Godot, Shaun Sheley

Theses

In Enmasking Beckett: The Use of the Commedia dell'Arte in Waiting for Godot, Shaun Sheley explores how the traditional Italian theatrical form of Commedia dell'Arte can inform and enhance character development and physical expression in Samuel Beckett’s seminal play Waiting for Godot. Drawing on his experience directing a 2007 university production, Sheley demonstrates how the fixed archetypes and physical vocabulary of Commedia dell'Arte can be applied to Beckett’s characters—Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo, and Lucky—to support their stylized, non-naturalistic portrayal and Beckett’s own directive for the play to be performed "balletically."

The thesis contextualizes Waiting for Godot within Beckett’s broader …

Book Review Of New Deal Theater: The Vernacular Tradition In American Political Theater By Ilka Saal, Katherine Weiss

ETSU Faculty Works

Review of New Deal Theater: The Vernacular Tradition in American Political Theater by Ilka Saal. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2007. 244 pp. $69.95.

Protean Careers And The Performing Arts: Antecedents For Intrinsic Motivation, Sophie Fernandes

Theses : Honours

The professional performing arts industry is typified by a high number of personnel employed on either a short-term or casual basis. Work is often unstable and wages are generally below the average, however, artists receive intrinsic rewards from their work, and this is why they choose to be employed in this field. Artists tend to manage their own careers, and have what is called a "protean career", whereby employment choices are made based on previous experiences and the resulting work is meaningful to the employee. The present study set out to explore three independent variables, namely organisational commitment, organisational identification …

Is Dance Good For The Body Or Not? : An Examination Of Body Awareness And Injury Prevention For Specialised Tertiary Dance Students, Kylie Murray

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this research paper is to discover more about tertiary dance and the effects that dance has on the body. I will discuss the pressures that dance places on the body, looking specifically at the years during full time study as a tertiary student. I will address dance issues such as common injuries, the reasons these injuries occur, prevention strategies, the effect that dance has on the mind and training conditions generally. Research into tertiary dance education programs, dance injuries, injury prevention, and general dance patterns will be supported by survey responses to come to some conclusions about …

I Think My Mother Would Have Put Me Off Women For Life'; John Osborne And The Construction Of The Maternal Female In Four Of His Plays: Look Back In Anger, The Entertainer, Time Present And The Hotel In Amsterdam, Dierdre Mangan

Theses : Honours

The following thesis aims to provide an insight into the life of British playwright, John Osborne and to examine his relationship with both his mother and other significant females present in his life. In addition, the following document aims to consider the subsequent effect Osborne's relationships may have had upon both the construction and depiction of the maternal role in four of his plays: Look Back in Anger (1956), The Entertainer (1957), Time Present (1968) and The Hotel in Amsterdam (1968). Evidence to support the thesis was obtained from a wide variety of sources: autobiographies, biographies, plays, film, critical theory, …

"Bat Boy: The Musical" Scene Design, Christopher Shane Dills

Theses and Dissertations

A. Environmental Facts

1. Geographical Location: The Exact Place Hope Falls. West Virginia, Population 500

2. Date: Year, Season, Time of Day. What is significant about the date? Present (2008), Fall at the beginning of the play and progresses into Spring by the beginning of act two and the revival. Time of day is generally midday except for the Christian Charity until the end of Dance with Me, Darling. During this portion of act one it is night time and it is storming, Hence the lightning flashes and power outages called for in the script and stage directions. The end …

Jules, Emily Oye

Theses and Dissertations

The short play Jules is a response to August Strindberg's Miss Julie and Patrick Marber's After Miss Julie. Jules is the story of a wealthy young woman celebrating her Sweet 16 birthday at a lavish "Juicy Couture" theme party in Orange County, California. At the party, her best friend tries to disuade her from falling for a young Mexican immigrant who is catering the party. Jules explores the tensions between rich and poor, the attitude of the privilaged towards the working class, the consequences of relationships, and the attitude that characterizes our "girls gone wild" era.